skein of yarn
1
4.4
- noun
- /skeɪn əv jɑrn/
:
madeja de hilo
- This one is done with two different skeins of yarn: a black with just a bit of a speck in it and a skinny little multi-colored yarn, which I think is for making socks.
Examples
-
I have one more skein of yarn to put in.
Blog text (16) -
With what I consider to be admirable self-restraint, I bought only three skeins of yarn and already have a specific project in mind for each:
Blog text (27) -
The bottle lodged under her arm, Frances uses a peeled stick to raise one of the skeins of yarn out of the water.
Fiction book (1994) -
She chose a bright blue skein of yarn to start her knitting project.
-
I found a beautiful skein of yarn that perfectly matched the color of my sweater.
-
Before beginning her crochet blanket, she organized several skeins of yarn in various shades.
Synonyms
80
1.0
A thin string of fibers used for sewing clothes
42
1.8
A long thread of twisted fibers like wool used for knitting
6
8.8
A long piece of yarn or thread you wind into a loose coil for knitting
3
1.0
A round mass of yarn made for knitting or crocheting
A small coil of yarn or thread kept for later use
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is literally a noun phrase linking a unit ('skein' = a coil) to its material ('yarn'), so the overall meaning is directly compositional from the parts and the genitive/partitive 'of' relation. This structure and logic (coil/unit + material) is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand the meaning.
Etymology
Skein of yarn comes from the picture of yarn wound into a loose, long coil. Imagine a long looped bundle you can pull from while you knit — that's why skein means 'a length of yarn wound into a loose coil'.